Steamed Broccoli Unlocks Cancer-Fighting Benefits

Cook your broccoli to boost its disease-fighting potential.

by MF Editors

Three to four minutes of steaming—the time it takes for broccoli to turn bright green—ups its cancer preventing potential. Scientists compared boiled, microwaved, and steamed broccoli and found that steaming it for several minutes was the best way to retain myrosinase, an important cancer-fighting enzyme. Boiling or microwaving it for even a minute or less actually destroyed myrosinase. Not a broccoli fan? You can make up for it elsewhere on your plate: “Mustard, radish, arugula, and other uncooked cruciferous vegetables [like cauliflower and kale] all contain myrosinase,” says study author Elizabeth Jeffery, Ph.D.